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13 December 2013

Podcast - The Beginning of the End (of the 80s)

NOTE: I'm back on podcast posting duties this week after Ian was doing the last few. To ensure you don't miss any make sure that you check out our podomatic page eightieskids.podomatic.com

It all starts off a bit masculine in this week's episode, how could it otherwise in a year that brought us Predator, The Running Man and Robocop? Before long though the discussion takes a distinct turn for the feminine as it behooves the present 80s Kids (Leo, Ian and Sue) to consider the wealth of female-oriented entertainment 1987 spewed out in bulk.

And so goes the story of yet another proud 80s year. There is a twist in the tale, however, for 1987 is where we first begin to detect the insidious presence of the 90s. 1987's failures were echoes of the cinematic wasteland to come. In addition we see the fading of such standards as the kiddie cast genre action movie in the sub-par Monster Squad (which is still a lot of fun but nowhere near the high point of the genre).

Films such as Robocop and Wall Street told us our love affair with corporate excess and the free market was approaching its end and if Robocop signalled anything it was that the divorce would be messy. On the other side of the coin the indie film-makers were sniffing around and the first signs of the massive indie explosion of the 90s were felt in titles like Hellraiser and Bad Taste.

The winds of change had started to blow, but the 80s party is still far from over. Cling onto your neon lit, synthesizer scored rite-of-passage party, midnight is coming...